A Person’s Deeds Gather Together
The Shalshelet HaKabbalah writes (p. 200): “When a person goes to the grave, before burial, all the deeds he performed in his lifetime gather together and testify before him.”
When Avraham Avinu stood beside Sarah’s bier, he saw with spiritual vision the Name Yud-Hei revealed in its fullness — a revelation formed through one hundred and twelve consecutive years, forty thousand eight hundred and eighty days, of perfect shalom bayit.
Because that light was revealed with such fullness and power, Avraham wished to draw it forth. He therefore expressed the verses of Eishet Chayil with his lips, and through this he ultimately succeeded in rectifying the blemish in the Name Yud-Hei caused by the first ten generations through the power of Sarah’s holiness.13
This explains why Avraham eulogized Sarah specifically with the verses of Eishet Chayil.
At this point, we wish to add a few words.
Wellsprings of Wisdom
13. Rabbi Ben Tzion Abba Shaul would often share the following insight. Just as the Haggadah speaks of “the wise son,” there is also the concept of “a wise woman.” In the Tanach, the phrase ishah chachamah, “a wise woman,” appears twice: the wise woman of Teko’a (II Shmuel 14:2), and the wise woman of Beit Ma’achah (ibid. 20:16). What both women share is that they worked to bring peace. The woman of Teko’a sought to restore peace between David and Avshalom, and the woman of Beit Ma’achah brought peace between the people of the city and those who had laid siege to it. This teaches that the wisdom of a woman is uniquely expressed in bringing peace. Rabbi Ben Tzion would repeat this principle to his students before marriage: shalom bayit is a matter that requires much wisdom. If one sees a home where peace is absent, it is a sign that the home is not being conducted with wisdom. If there were even a measure of true wisdom there — and the wise person is one who sees what will result from his actions — the husband and wife would rise above passing feelings of anger and restrain themselves for the greater goal of peace and unity.
